Topic: Islamic Revolution Focus: The United States Role in the Islamic Revolution
Western cultural aspects and ideas challenged everything the Islamic revolution stood for, they also played a considerably large role in the revolution especially in the involvment with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Once the Shah fled the country it appeared as if the Western influence was not present. But this observation was completly false, if anything the fate of Iran was in the hands of the West.
It all began with the U.S.'s first major involvment with Iranian politics in 1953. The C.I.A. had covertly helped tackle Iran's prime minister and restore the Shah to his throne after he had gone into exile during a power struggle with members of Iran's elected parliament. The primary reason that the United States supported the Shah was because the U.S. was undergoing the height of the Cold War and Iran was a potential target for the spread of Soviet Communism. While under the control of Preident Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950's to President Jimmy Carter in the 1970's the U.S. fully devoted their utmost diligence to the Shah, who sympathizied with the West.
The United States was so deeply tied with the Shah, that they took the initiative to sponsor, train, and organize the Shah's secret police formally known as the SAVAK. The Shah was a merciless leader and he used the SAVAK to their full potential, they severly punished those who spoke out against the reign of the Shah. "Any opposition, legal or otherwise would not be tolorated by SAVAK and the people would be arrested and would be tortured."(Hadian) The SAVAK are a specific example that showed the power and control that the United States felt over Iran. But nothing could prepare the U.S. for the revolts to come.
"Iran, because of the great leadership of the Shah, is an island of stability in one of the more troubled areas of the world..."(Carter). President Jimmy Carter stated this trying to win over the Shah, but he could not be more wrong. In fact Khomeini, a Shiite Muslim who worked for years to overthrow the Shah, while still in exile began to collect a mass amount of followers, especially those from middle class who wanted a say in how they lived their life. Soon citizens filled the streets and demonstrated that they had opinions to. The Shah began to loose control of his power and so he decided to bathe his mistakes in blood. On September 8, 1978 Black Friday occured. Thousands of demostraters lined the street they peacefully protested until a lash of violence from the SAVAK started push back from the demonstraters. The SAVAK wouldn't take this so they open fired among the people killing hundreds of Iranian citizens. This event made the Western powers, especially the U.S. uneasy about supporting the Shah, because he was in fact rapidly loosing power.
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood written by Marjane Satrapi allows the world to see the revolution unfold before the eyes if a child named Marji. Marji's parents participate in the demonstrations that take place before Khomeini returns and Marji described her parents after the demonstrations,"After marching and throwing stones all day, by evening they had aches all over,even in their heads"(Satrapi 18). Also Marji proves to her parents that she is responsible enough to take part in the demonstrations and so they take her out unknowingly on September 8th, 1978, the day Black Friday happens. Marji and her family experience devestation on that tragic day and on that day forward Marji's parents become less opinionated on the events occuring around them and more about controling their firey child.
Soon the Shah weakned by the demonstrations, denounced his power and he was exiled. "A great river of humanity flowed down Tehran's main street today," wrote New York Times correspondent R.W. Apple. "Although Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi left the country three days ago, probably forever, the demonstrators again sounded their familiar battle cry 'Marg bar Shah'—'Death to the Shah!'"(Apple) The people of Iran rejoiced because for all they knew, Khomeini was going to return soon and establish an Islamic Republic.
On February 1st 1979, two weeks after the Shah had left Khomeini returned to Iran causing caos. People flooded the streets in celebration but the celebration quickly turned into violent protests that lead to the demise of the recently appointed Prime Minister. Then overnight the mood changed drastically. "We went to bed one night in Tehran and woke up the next morning and there were revolutionary committees carrying guns everywhere. Revolutionaries were in control of the military barracks, of ministries, of radio and television. So although the buildup to the revolutionary moment took an entire year when it came it was very sudden and very quick."(Bakhash)
By now political leaders in the United States knew that if they stayed loyal to the Shah, then Iran would become a permanant foe. So in order to stay on neutral terms with Iran, the U.S. had to realize that they couldn't have stopped the revolution but their obession with the Shah had brought the country some considerable costs. The United States stood back and watched as followers of their former ally, the Shah were executed. Due to the act that Khomeini was against everything the U.S. did, the U.S. became worried because they believed that Khomeini was going to construct another world power but this world power wouldn't favor the U.S. There fears were slashed as soon as Khomeini chose Medhi Bazargan as prime minister because of his democratic and liberal belifs which in turn could prove to benefit the Iranian relationship with many Western countries.
Now the Shah was seeking a home and he turned to the United States, a multitude of people believed they should let them in. But influencial government leaders decided to not to because it could cause Iran to hate the U.S. even more than they did. The United States was clueless to the level of hate Khomeni and his followers had for the U.S., so when the Shah was allowed in the U.S. for medical treatment, on November 4th 1979 a group took over the U.S. embassy and took 66 hostages. This was the beginning of the road that led the United States to the complicated, hostile relationship it now has with Iran, and you can pretty much say that we brought it all upon ourselves.
As you can see even when it looks as if the U.S. doesn't have influence within Iran during the Islamic revolution, it does. A specific example of this comes from Persepolis: The Story of a Childood written by Marji Satrapi, Marji grows up exposed to a type of Western education that can only be provided by certain schools. But we find the problem within the fact that Marji's education is strongly influenced by the West, even when the U.S. isn't on the best of terms with Iran it still continues to make an apperance in the education. Another example of Western appearance in the Iranian culture during the revolution is when Marjis parents travel to Turkey to get away together, the things that Marji request are all items that are popular in the Western culture, this tells us that the Iranian society may hate the political aspects that the U.S. brought upon Iran, but the Western media and fashion are used to set silent guidelines that every teenager knows. In other words if you have belogings that represent the Western culture, you are 'cool'.
Ruhollah Khomeini, a religious and political leader of Iran during the Islamic Revolution
Panel from Persepolis explaining the demonstrations
Focus: The United States Role in the Islamic Revolution
Western cultural aspects and ideas challenged everything the Islamic revolution stood for, they also played a considerably large role in the revolution especially in the involvment with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Once the Shah fled the country it appeared as if the Western influence was not present. But this observation was completly false, if anything the fate of Iran was in the hands of the West.
It all began with the U.S.'s first major involvment with Iranian politics in 1953. The C.I.A. had covertly helped tackle Iran's prime minister and restore the Shah to his throne after he had gone into exile during a power struggle with members of Iran's elected parliament. The primary reason that the United States supported the Shah was because the U.S. was undergoing the height of the Cold War and Iran was a potential target for the spread of Soviet Communism. While under the control of Preident Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950's to President Jimmy Carter in the 1970's the U.S. fully devoted their utmost diligence to the Shah, who sympathizied with the West.
The United States was so deeply tied with the Shah, that they took the initiative to sponsor, train, and organize the Shah's secret police formally known as the SAVAK. The Shah was a merciless leader and he used the SAVAK to their full potential, they severly punished those who spoke out against the reign of the Shah. "Any opposition, legal or otherwise would not be tolorated by SAVAK and the people would be arrested and would be tortured."(Hadian) The SAVAK are a specific example that showed the power and control that the United States felt over Iran. But nothing could prepare the U.S. for the revolts to come.
"Iran, because of the great leadership of the Shah, is an island of stability in one of the more troubled areas of the world..."(Carter). President Jimmy Carter stated this trying to win over the Shah, but he could not be more wrong. In fact Khomeini, a Shiite Muslim who worked for years to overthrow the Shah, while still in exile began to collect a mass amount of followers, especially those from middle class who wanted a say in how they lived their life. Soon citizens filled the streets and demonstrated that they had opinions to. The Shah began to loose control of his power and so he decided to bathe his mistakes in blood. On September 8, 1978 Black Friday occured. Thousands of demostraters lined the street they peacefully protested until a lash of violence from the SAVAK started push back from the demonstraters. The SAVAK wouldn't take this so they open fired among the people killing hundreds of Iranian citizens. This event made the Western powers, especially the U.S. uneasy about supporting the Shah, because he was in fact rapidly loosing power.
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood written by Marjane Satrapi allows the world to see the revolution unfold before the eyes if a child named Marji. Marji's parents participate in the demonstrations that take place before Khomeini returns and Marji described her parents after the demonstrations,"After marching and throwing stones all day, by evening they had aches all over,even in their heads"(Satrapi 18). Also Marji proves to her parents that she is responsible enough to take part in the demonstrations and so they take her out unknowingly on September 8th, 1978, the day Black Friday happens. Marji and her family experience devestation on that tragic day and on that day forward Marji's parents become less opinionated on the events occuring around them and more about controling their firey child.
Soon the Shah weakned by the demonstrations, denounced his power and he was exiled. "A great river of humanity flowed down Tehran's main street today," wrote New York Times correspondent R.W. Apple. "Although Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi left the country three days ago, probably forever, the demonstrators again sounded their familiar battle cry 'Marg bar Shah'—'Death to the Shah!'"(Apple) The people of Iran rejoiced because for all they knew, Khomeini was going to return soon and establish an Islamic Republic.
On February 1st 1979, two weeks after the Shah had left Khomeini returned to Iran causing caos. People flooded the streets in celebration but the celebration quickly turned into violent protests that lead to the demise of the recently appointed Prime Minister. Then overnight the mood changed drastically. "We went to bed one night in Tehran and woke up the next morning and there were revolutionary committees carrying guns everywhere. Revolutionaries were in control of the military barracks, of ministries, of radio and television. So although the buildup to the revolutionary moment took an entire year when it came it was very sudden and very quick."(Bakhash)
By now political leaders in the United States knew that if they stayed loyal to the Shah, then Iran would become a permanant foe. So in order to stay on neutral terms with Iran, the U.S. had to realize that they couldn't have stopped the revolution but their obession with the Shah had brought the country some considerable costs. The United States stood back and watched as followers of their former ally, the Shah were executed. Due to the act that Khomeini was against everything the U.S. did, the U.S. became worried because they believed that Khomeini was going to construct another world power but this world power wouldn't favor the U.S. There fears were slashed as soon as Khomeini chose Medhi Bazargan as prime minister because of his democratic and liberal belifs which in turn could prove to benefit the Iranian relationship with many Western countries.
Now the Shah was seeking a home and he turned to the United States, a multitude of people believed they should let them in. But influencial government leaders decided to not to because it could cause Iran to hate the U.S. even more than they did. The United States was clueless to the level of hate Khomeni and his followers had for the U.S., so when the Shah was allowed in the U.S. for medical treatment, on November 4th 1979 a group took over the U.S. embassy and took 66 hostages. This was the beginning of the road that led the United States to the complicated, hostile relationship it now has with Iran, and you can pretty much say that we brought it all upon ourselves.
As you can see even when it looks as if the U.S. doesn't have influence within Iran during the Islamic revolution, it does. A specific example of this comes from Persepolis: The Story of a Childood written by Marji Satrapi, Marji grows up exposed to a type of Western education that can only be provided by certain schools. But we find the problem within the fact that Marji's education is strongly influenced by the West, even when the U.S. isn't on the best of terms with Iran it still continues to make an apperance in the education. Another example of Western appearance in the Iranian culture during the revolution is when Marjis parents travel to Turkey to get away together, the things that Marji request are all items that are popular in the Western culture, this tells us that the Iranian society may hate the political aspects that the U.S. brought upon Iran, but the Western media and fashion are used to set silent guidelines that every teenager knows. In other words if you have belogings that represent the Western culture, you are 'cool'.
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Sources
http://www.pri.org/theworld/?q=node/3567
http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/upfront/features/index.asp?article=f091806_T_P_Iran
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/oct/17/world/fg-shah17
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. New York, United States: Pantheon Books, 2003. (Translation Copyright)